Warriors Coach Kerr Refutes Report That Curry Won't Play This Season
SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX) -- The Warriors lost in overtime to the Timberwolves in Minnesota Friday night, continuing their slump this season. But the conversation Friday was more about the status of star player Stephen Curry's broken hand.
Coach Steve Kerr said Curry is still expected to be evaluated at the beginning of February.
Kerr responded to a Bleacher Report article that cited a source saying it's unlikely Curry will return to the court this season.
"The plan is for him to be back out on the court the minute he's deemed ready to go by our training staff so that one was kind of a head scratcher," Kerr told a group of reporters.
The Bleacher Report correspondent later tweeted a clarification -- saying of Curry that "he wouldn't play again this season because there's no competitive reason," not because he's physically unable to.
"He's going to be bored, he's probably already bored, he's dying to play," said Kerr of Curry.
Scott Hansen is chief of hand and microvascular surgery at UCSF and also the hand doctor for the San Francisco Giants. He is not treating Curry but says his injury appears to be severe.
"A straightforward fracture, you could be evaluated as early as four weeks or even 6 weeks to assess the healing of the bone and, depending on the healing of the bone, start of range of motion and activity," Dr. Hansen explained.
Hansen says that, with intensive physical therapy, the prognosis is good.
"Hand fractures are very treatable -- treating them early, treating them the right way, stabilizing the fracture, letting the bone heal and physical therapy -- really it's something that we see quite frequently. Not everyday, but we see it enough in baseball ... that the players get back in the field without any problem," Hansen said.
Radio station 95.7 The Game host John Dickinson says it's likely that we see Curry back out on the court before the end of the season.
"The one thing though that it does bring to light is the conversation that will have to be had at some point when Curry is healthy and it's weighing the fact that Curry's going to want to play, the Warriors are going to want to put the best product on the floor they possibly can but their record may not be all that great at the point in which he returns," said Dickinson.
Next year, Klay Thompson is expected to return and Draymond Green is expected to be back relatively soon.
"I think the big question is: do all three get a chance to play together for the final month or two of the season? Warriors might be out of the playoff race at that point but there still could be some momentum building toward next year," Dickinson said.